


A Story About BB-8

by redlionspride



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Astromech Droids, BB-8 is a Rescue Droid, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, New Republic Pilots, Origin Story, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-11 17:18:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5635333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redlionspride/pseuds/redlionspride
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So, what’s with you and BB-8 anyhow? Beebee doesn’t act like a normal droid.” Finn said one day while the three of them sat around a table in the mess hall.</p>
<p>Poe tells Finn the story of how he found a very badly broken BB unit and how he got it home, fixed and taken care of. BB-8 happily supplies parts of the story as well, to make sure Poe tells it right. </p>
<p>They each saved each other, and they continue to do so even today.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Story About BB-8

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This was meant to be a short story that took off to being one of my larger fictions on this site! My fourth related to Star Wars and my first for the new year too!
> 
> This spaned from a TFA_kinkmeme prompt, asking for "BB-8 is a rescue droid. Poe comes back from a routine mission in the Outer Rim with a battered and skittish BB unit in tow. He buys a maintenance manual, some nice colors for a new base coat, and sets about helping BB-8 become the happy, friendly, loyal droid we see in the movie."  
> Prompt found here: http://tfa-kink.dreamwidth.org/1082.html?thread=708922#cmt708922 
> 
> This ended up with a few Poe/Finn elements at the very, very end. Nothing much! I hope you all enjoy and thank you for reading!

“So, what’s with you and BB-8 anyhow? Beebee doesn’t act like a normal droid.” Finn said one day while the three of them sat around a table in the mess hall. Finn poked at his late dinner slowly, taking his time for now, watching Poe work on BB-8 for the moment, his own tray of food forgotten. 

BB-8 chirped and wiggled on the floor, chattering a story suddenly at Finn, who still didn’t understand a word of droidspeak. Why couldn’t they just make Astromechs speak basic?

Poe laughed, patting the droid’s head and shhhing it. “I’ll tell him, I’ll tell him. Calm down.” He said, finishing up what he was doing and then tapped the little door to tell BB it was okay to close it again. He came back up to his tray of food and smiled, digging into a small gelatinous pile of orange desert goo. Finn still wasn't sure how he could eat that stuff, protein or not.

“If you let Beebee tell it, we’ll be here a while and you’ll get a headache from all the chattering.” He teased Finn and took a bite from a roll on his tray. “Bee’s a special droid. Not many of the BB line were made. Even fewer of them were made to do what this one does.” He felt BeeBee roll and bump his leg lightly, chirp up at him from beside his leg, watching. Poe chuckled, reaching down to lightly pet the little droid. “Okay, okay. I’ll start from the beginning.” 

Finn grinned, leaning on the table now and watching the two, but watching Poe with that smile, like he was ready for… “Aw yes, story time.” He chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah, story time.” Poe said with a wave of his hand, grinning though. He found both BB-8 and Finn’s enthusiasm about this story time thing to be adorable.

“This was back before I was with the Resistance. Back with the New Republic, before I was anything more then a Flight Officer, which just meant I was part of a Squadron as a pilot. Still new. The New Republic was different than this Resistance. More rules, more guidelines, a lot more restrictions, but we got more of the new stuff. New X-wings, top of the line with no problems and no worries. If there was an issue, you told the mechanic and they got one of their people on it.” 

“Here it’s different. We have old models to fly, and every pilot needs to know how to fix their own ship because we don’t always have the mechanics around to take care of it all. Or there are more ships to fix than mechanics to work on them. Or more problems then parts to fix them. It’s… different. Harder in some ways. Which is to say, you get really comfortable flying for the New Republic. Which could kill you someday. I’ve seen it happen a few times. It’s--” 

BB-8 made a sound, then chittered something at Poe swiftly. “I’m getting to it BeeBee. You said start from the beginning, so I am. You have to set the story up well. Background, you know.” He chided the small child like droid, who gave a mournful tone and moved to roll over by Finn, settling in beside his leg. 

Finn could swear he heard the droid purr. He pet the top of the little dome head like he had seen Poe do so many times before, then leaned on the table again. “Okay, so the Resistance isn’t as well funded as the Republic. Sounds like the Republic was a lot like the First Order. Top of the line everything. But, I’m with BeeBee on this. Let’s get to finding him.” 

“All right, all right. So impatient.” He laughed, taking a moment to chew down a bit more of his meal before continuing. “So, as I said, things are different there. I was still new, just out of the Academy. While out with my wingmates on a routine patrol we ran into a distress call, out in the far outer rim, so a distress call out there isn’t that abnormal, but when your patrols consist of really boring runs, you just at the chance to check out anything.” 

\---

_“Duxsen, Kalvin, stay tight. Dameron, on me. Let’s scope out what the problem is first. I’d rather be safe then deader than a Hutt in deep space.”_

_Poe heard their Captain give orders, and pulled in tight behind him, hearing everyone check in, all of them now serious and focused unlike a moment ago when they were all complaining about the boredom. The four X-wings moved around doing a routine check on everything first. The Captain was on the horn, talking to the other ship now that communication has connected. The distress call had been a set up and before they knew it seven Z-95 Headhunters came out of nowhere giving the four X-wings a pretty good fight, though they made quick work of it._

_“Two on my tail.” Poe said over his com, having just shot through the explosion of one ship he took down. He maneuvered, making one of the ship behind him lose track and fall a bit to the side, unable to keep up with the X-wing. Trying to flip around and cut in on the other Headhunter, Poe did some fancy flying, and just as his Captain came in out of nowhere to hit his tail, the first lost Headhunter turned into view and landed a hit on Poe’s X-wing._

_His Astromech screamed frighteningly, head coming off in space from a direct hit. His internal computer system shook and shut down, and a fire tried to ignite in the back, battling for air in space while sparks kept shooting from the ship._

_Poe tried everything as swiftly as he could, flicking switches, trying to get the boards to light up again, but his X-wing was fried. Not at all responsive. His poor R5 Astromech was destroyed. Smoke was starting to fill the cabin of the cockpit and radio communication was down._

_Instinctively he jerked back and away as a ship exploded nearby, the ball of light seeing brighter than normal. Shards of the Headhunter scattering over the hull of his X-wing. The Captain came in alongside, checking with him. Tapping his helmet. Poe shook his head, no com. No power. No life. And at its current path it was headed for just under the original fake distressed ship they had come to respond to._

_Pulling a breathing mask around and fixing it to his helmet, he gave the captain the signal for what he was going to do, though it was getting so smokey inside it was impossible for them to see. A fire behind his seat was starting to spread. There was no way he was going to do anything inside this ship, and it as a matter of minutes before it would go._

_Pulling the manual eject lever the cockpit snapped open and he shot out into cold, cold space. His trajectory aimed right for the ship, thankfully. Cruising towards the ship, Poe had his blaster in hand, though he had very little hope of it coming into use. If he could get to a door, a seal, something like that, he might be able to get in. This model of ship had several dual lock cargo hold entrances, so it shouldn’t bother the crew on board, too much. That is, if they weren’t in the cargo bay._

\---

“Hold up. Hold up.” Finn said, interrupting and giving Poe a dubious glance. “I thought we were talking about how you found Beebee. This is starting to sound like a bad holo drama.” Finn sat back, pushing his now empty tray of food to the side. The mess hall was starting to empty out at this point, leaving the two men who had come late to dinner still here with few others. 

Poe drew back, looking shocked to be interrupted. “I’m getting there. I figured you’d like to know the horrible situation we were in at first. And I take mild offence to this being a BAD holo drama. This actually happened, thanks.” He said with a laugh and smile.

“Hey, I didn’t say it wasn’t interesting, just a bit, well… far fetched.” Finn said with a grin, knowing it would get to the man. 

Reaching his foot out Poe kicked Finn lightly in the shin for the comment. “My _life_ was on the line here, Finn. I was working against the clock.” 

At this BB-8 gave a mournful and slightly surprised sound, then looked up at Finn to start chittering at him. Finn looked at the droid with a glance that said ‘you do realize I still don’t understand anything you’re saying, right?’ The droid stopped and sighed at Poe. 

“Beebee is saying it’s a true story. I just had to eject and shoot over to the freighter, break in and take down the crew. Which, I will remind you, I was only armed with a blaster.” 

\---

_With the last man down in the cargo bay, Poe stood and took a moment's pause, sucking in a full breath before letting his shoulders sag. “All right. That… wasn’t so hard.” He said, holding his bleeding side and starting to head for the door leading to the rest of the ship, ignoring the crate that was on fire at the back of the ship. He could take care of that once he had taken care of the rest of the crew._

_Taking over the ship shouldn’t be that hard to--_

\---

“Oh, okay, so you’re just going to be a bad narrator now?” Finn said as he leaned back in his chair, frowning at the other. 

Poe paused, shoving the last of his food into his mouth and looking at Finn like he wasn’t sure WHAT he had done. “What now? You said to hurry it up. You wanted to hear about Beebee.” 

“Yeah, but… _how_ did you get inside? You can’t just call it quits in the middle of the action and jump to… to you _bleeding_ and walking off like you were some big damn hero. _Damn_ it, Dameron, who taught you how to tell a story?” 

Poe snorted, collecting his tray and piling it up with Finns now. “I see. Well. Did you want to tell the story?” He asked, grinning as he stood to take the trays to a bin for collection. 

Finn stood and moved, with BB-8 rolling beside him. “I might!” 

“Please, be my guest.” Poe said with a laugh and started for the mess hall door. 

Finn opened his mouth, and BB-8 gave a chipper tone, before rolling ahead. “I would, if I knew the story. Wait, did Beebee just laugh at me?” He huffed and jog stepped to catch up to the pilot and droid. 

“All right. I’ll stop interrupting. Just, how did you get shot?” 

“Stupidity.” Poe said easily. 

“Was it someone from inside the ship?” 

BB-8 started to explain, but Poe frowned and shot him a look. The droid stopped, then made a chuckling like sound. Poe rolled his eyes. 

“If you must know, I took a shot outside the ship. It ended up shooting back at me and hitting me in the side. Thankfully it did enough damage that I was able to get inside. Let’s do keep asking questions about that part and take longer to get to Beebee.” 

Finn snorted, coming in beside Poe and dropping an arm over him. “I don’t know. I’m kind of liking hearing that the great Poe Dameron made stupid ass mistakes like most of the rest of the galaxy does. It’s a nice change.” 

“Oh ha ha. I’m sorry to ruin the illusion that is Practically Perfect Poe.” he teased at Finn in return, walking down a hall and towards. “Honestly, I’m not sure how I made it inside. After the blaster shot to a door failed, I thought that was it. I was going to die. Then it just opened.” 

BB-8 whistled to the side, looking away. One of those innocent ‘i didn’t do anything’ kind of tunes.

Poe paused, surprise on his face. “Wait, did you open the door?” He looked at his droid, who he’s known for so long, and had no idea about this. BB-8 chirped and swiveled around on the floor, happy like. “Huh… I didn’t know that. Asked the computer to do it, huh? Well, I’ll be…”

“Anyhow, as I was saying, I made it inside and I thought I took down most of the pirates. When I got to the cockpit there was no one there. The ship was just sitting in space, unmanned. So I managed to get on the radio and get in contact with the Captain. Just as I was in the middle of letting him know that I had taken over the ship someone behind me jabbed a blaster at my back.” 

\---

_”No fast movements.” A deep voice from a Duros male said, his long face looking stern and angry. Poe put his hands up and closed his eyes, holding back a sigh he wanted to let out. Yeah, rookie mistake. He should have checked the ship better._

_Turning slowly around, hands still up, Poe got a better look at his new captor. The Duros were a tall race, bluish skinned, red eyes. He had heard stories about his mom’s Commander, L’ulo, she he had always had a fairly good respect for the race. It didn’t mean he liked being held up by a pirate._

_“Okay, okay. No fast movements. Look, it was really cold outside, so I just let myself in. Sorry about that. I should have knocked first, or called, I know. Not really polite of me, but you do what you have to do.”_

_“Shut up, boy.” The pirate pushed the blaster into Poe’s chest, shoving him backwards a bit into the dashboard. “Tell them you have it under control here, but you need to land. You’re getting me somewhere else and letting me go. I’m not going back to your damned Republic.”_

_“Ah, yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Let me just tell them it’s all okay, which, I might note, I was already doing before you popped up. Honestly, you couldn’t have just stayed under cover for a while?” Poe rambled coolly, watching the pirate as his hand twitched._

_Really, he should shut up now, huh? his big mouth was going to get him into all kinds of trouble some day. Like today!_

_“Look, why don’t we put down our guns, or, actually, you just put yours down, since you're the one waving one around, and we can talk.”_

_“I don’t deal with Republic crap. You tell them it’s all fine and stand down or I shoot you here and now.” The pirate said, looking a bit crazed. Poe had to wonder if he was high on something. They all had to be high on something if they thought they could take out four New republic X-wing fighters._

_“I can do that. Just give me a moment. Cool your jets and let’s be friends here.” He said, turning slowly to make that call. Only, he heard something from behind the pirate. Someone else? It sounded like something had fallen behind the other._

_The Duros turned, blaster pointed behind him, then looking around. Clearly startled. Clearly upset about something._

_Poe took the moment of distraction to make his move. He intended to step forward, grab the blaster and maybe sucker punch the Duros in the flat lip but just as he made his move he came up short, drawing back suddenly as the alien started to light up._

_A small arm had came out of nowhere, and a bright blue shock bolt hit him in the leg. The little metal arm pressed harder into the pirates leg, leaning in to keep firm contact with the being. The bolt of electricity kept going, just rocking power through the Duros for what seemed like forever. The best the blue alien could do was get a blaster shot off, and Poe was pretty sure that was just muscle spasm. It must have hit something though, because the bolt of power cut off and the arm pulled back and away, suddenly disappearing._

_Poe had stepped back, arm coming up to shield his eyes from the light coming off the body of the other. It really did seem to last forever, before the jolted man dropped and crumpled to the floor, shirt almost seeming to smoke a bit. Whatever the small mechanical arm was, it was done and out of view again. He could swear he could hear something scrap and thump away in the hall._

_He stood there, stunned for a moment, before reaching for the radio and reporting in again. Everything was under control, and to give him a moment, please stay as cover._

_He then moved, out the door and looking around, stepping over the Duros carefully. “Hey, I come in peace.” Poe called out, hands up, as if worried he’d be next. “Hello?”_

_There was no movement at all, just silence for a moment longer. He stepped out farther, hands to the side. “I wanted to thank you, for your help. Hello? Anyone out there.”_

_For a moment there was silence, only Poe’s own breath and heart beat could be heard. Then, a very tentative little whistle. The tone made him turn, going to the right and down a short hall of the ship, being very careful of how he stepped. “What do you mean there’s no one here? Who just spoke if there’s no one?”_

_Just a bit further down the hall he heard the sad tone try to correct him. “I don’t believe that. Someone had to help me. I wanted to say thanks.” He was talking to a droid, that was for sure. It sounded like an astromech model, but he couldn’t be sure with how badly it sounded._

_Poe came to the end of the hall, peeking past a stack of crates to see a small silver and white pile of junk. Dented, smashed in on one side, and missing a round plate or two. It’s antenna was bent beyond reason. There as a crack in the black lens of the droids eye, and a pair of broken cables hung lifeless. The droid had oil stains running down one side, and there as a rusted restraining bolt, half hanging from the top of it’s head. To one side there was a smoking hole, perhaps where the pirate had just somehow shot it._

_Coming to crouch near the small rounded but thrashed machine, Poe looked horrified at the small astromech. He swore under his breath, looking at the droid like it was a beaten and battered creature. He had always had a strong respect for droids, especially the astromechs that were used for navigation and flying. His mom had one and he just… he couldn’t imagine what or who would do this to a droid._

_“Hi.” He said softly, watching the focus behind the cracked black lens try to pan in then out at him. “Was it you?” He asked, head tilting and smiling down at him. “Are you my hero?”_

_The droid’s head rolled a bit, drawing back, and the tone it made was surprised at first, then almost babbling, sad. Denying everything almost instantly, like it were scared._

_“Slow down, my friend. I really mean it. You helped me out big time back there. That could have been messy, you know.” Poe moved, sucking in a breath as he pressed his hand to his side, blood still light but still hurting there. Stupid move on his own part out in space. He let out a softer sigh and grinned down at the small broken and battered droid. “Have you been on this ship long? Maybe you can help me. I have an X-wing outside that I need to tether to it and haul home.”_

_There was a low then high questioning sound from the droid, and Poe paused, looking down at his side, frowning. “It’s just a flesh wound. A bit of a burn. Did it myself, like an idiot, but I was starting to panic.” he shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”_

_He then crouched down again to the little mess of what was once a droid and frowned. “Your antenna is bent.” And everything else about him, really. But he reached over and popped it out, working it carefully with his hands, before putting it back into place with a twist. The small droid seemed confused to the help, peeking up at the pilot through a cracked lens. “Come on, come out and let’s figure out what we can do.”_

_He moved back to the cockpit, glancing once in awhile to see if the droid would follow with him. Taking the hands of the Duros he hauled the body back to the cargo bay, noticing that fire was growing more out of control. Whoops._

_Putting himself to work, he got the fire out, got back on the communication system and explained what was going on to the captain. He was able to get a cable out and attached to the nose of his X-wing, magnetically attaching it to the ship and hauling it in close, securing it well enough to make a few jumps home._

_By time he was done he was seated into the pilot seat, breathing a bit harder and feeling fully worn out. But they were in Hyperspace and all he had to do was wait now._

_With the softest thunk and scraping sound, he glanced back to see the broken little ball sitting there near the cockpit, a mournful sad tone given, then an arm pulling a small white box into view. A med kit._

_Poe grinned, turning to get out of the chair and came over to look down at the little weird ball droid and the medical kit. “For me?” Gracelessly, Poe plopped down on the floor of the cockpit and sat crossed legged in front of the droid. He opened the kit and took a look. “Did you go find this for me?”_

_The droid gave a soft shy tone. A simple ‘yes’ if he had ever heard it._

_“Thanks, buddy!” He said, cheerfully at the little battered droid, reaching out to pat the top of it’s head. “Like I said, it’s just a flesh wound, but thanks. I can make good use of this.”_

_The droid seemed to perk up a bit, as if the praise was new and nice._

_Poe sat there, pulling his flight suit down, his shirt up, surveying the damage, which really wasn't too bad, if not a bit burnt and sore. He applied some salve and a bandage, deciding to wait to get to medical at the base to actually take care of it. For now, this did help, the salve taking the burn and edge off of it. The bandage keeping it dry and comfortable._

_When he was done he groaned and let himself fall backwards, a long sigh of breath let out. Damn he felt tired._

_The suddenly alarmed sound that the droid gave him next was enough to startle him as well, making him sit up once more and wince, hand to his side. “What?!” The droid gave him a few more worried sounds and Poe suddenly chuckled._

_“Oh, you scared me. No, I’m fine. I’m sorry I scared you too. Huh? Oh, yes, I understand you. You’re surprised?” He said with a chuckle, replying to comments the droid made. Smiling he sat there and stared at the droid a moment. Rocking to his left he leaned there, just watching. The droid rolled to it’s side, mimicking and mirroring Poe’s move. Poe smiled, sat up, then rocked to the right. A moment later, the droid made a small tone that seemed questioning… and rolled to mirror him there. Sitting right again he smiled brightly to the droid. “You’re kind of cute for a junk heap.”_

_The droid’s head fell again and moaned a soft sad tone, making Poe frowned. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Just… you’re a mess.”_

_He reached out again to touch the top of the droids head. He knows that R2s and R5s have sensors there sometimes, and he always wondered if droids could feel and understand touch. It was an old habit he had gotten into._

_With a sad smile down at the sad excuse for a droid, Poe started to move. “Come on. Let’s see what this bucket of bolts has that we can use to fix you up a bit.” The questioning tone was easy to read, even for people who couldn’t understand the little thing._

_“Why? You’re hurt. Seems only right that someone takes care of your ouches too.” He moved to step over the pile of droid and started to look around the ship. To his surprise the droid did follow, asking questions as it went._

_“I know you can’t feel pain. Programs and all, but I don’t always believe that. I just lost Arff, the R5 unit I had in the X-wing. I’m… I’m pretty sure she’s gone. There wasn’t much left to her and she’s not responding. She was good to me though, but… you know, sometimes I wonder if your lot can feel pain or not. Or fear, at least. The scream in the end… that doesn't go away. A lot like the scream of losing a pilot friend.”_

_He paused, standing there in the middle of a hall, silent himself. The feelings of loss hitting him again. They didn’t lose anyone today when it came down to the official books. A good mission. One ship that needed repair. No losses, but Poe didn’t think of it that way. He lost a partner today. Arff, a dumb name for a droid, he knows, but she was a good one. Real good. He hadn’t had her long as she came with the X-wing, but he had liked her._

_A bump at his leg made him jump, and looking down, the sad little ball droid was peeking up at him through a cracked eye. He gave a sad smile down to it. “Sorry, I… didn’t hear what you said.” A string of soft tones came back to him, making him smile slow and sad. “Yeah, she was a good droid. I’m going to miss her. But… let’s not think about that. Let’s see if we can make some of the hurt go away for you too. A droid med kit.”_

_The small droid started to limp it’s way down a hall, one side getting stuck on the side with the missing plate, making it hard for the little ball to get back up on the rolling side of himself. It made the worst blat sound, frustrated._

_Poe came over and pushed, getting it back to it’s rolling side and let it lead the way. There was a small trail of oil being left behind. He couldn’t help but think it was like blood. Something in his chest tightened, frowning over it. He wanted to pick the droid up and carry it, but he knew it was a bit too heavy for that._

_When they got to a small room Poe flinched, looking around in it. Like a droid graveyard. More like a droid slaughterhouse._

_There was a table sitting to one side that looked as if it should be a bed. There was a small sink, like it was a refresher or a bedroom with it’s own wash station. There was a storage closet as well. It was a normal small crew rooming, except that it was full, from floor to ceiling, with droid parts. Parts from this make and that model. Parts from old, old service droids and parts from newer astromech models._

_Poe turned away, looking down sadly at the little one near his feet. “Don’t tell me you were in here?!” the droid looked away, saying nothing. Poe took a moment, frowning, then looked back inside. He could see part of the round missing piece of the droids body, dented and half smashed on the workbench._

_“Let me guess, you aren’t talking because I told you not to tell me.” The droid whistles sadly, still not looking at him._

_Poe cursed, in several different languages._

\---

“You okay?” Poe paused his story, looking at Finn who looked… heartbroken. His face looked ashen for a moment, and his eyes wide. 

Finn blinked, surprised to be addressed now. The two of them had been walking the halls for a while now, with BB-8 rolled along behind them, just paying attention to the story silently. “Huh? Oh… ah, yeah.” Finn sounded surprised, breaking out of his focus on the story. “Yeah, no, I’m fine. I just…” 

He paused, turning to look back at BB-8. The little droid looked up at Finn, almost confused. “Was that really you, Beebee?” Finn asked, crouching suddenly, reaching both hands over to either side of the droid as if to hold it’s shoulders it didn’t have. “I can’t believe someone would do that to you. The BB series was pretty rare as it was, wasn’t it?” He asked, both of them really. 

“Pretty rare, yeah.” Poe agreed, hands in his pockets and watching the two interact. He couldn’t help the sad little smile he got while watching them. 

BB-8 hooted softly at Finn, and gave a small little purr sound to the man. 

Finn, reaching up to rub over the top of the droids head smiled at him. “Well, I’m glad you’re all better now, but…” He moved to stand again, looking at Poe. “Why? Why break a droid apart for no reason?” He knew not everyone respected droids, and hell, he was raised to consider them beneath him as well. All stormtroopers were, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t change. Once he realized what droids could be and how they could be, he changed easily. BB-8 was really the first one he had ever met that wasn’t a generic service droid.

“Some people founds that some droids had valuable parts inside them. Liquids that could be sold elsewhere. Metals that could be melted down. It was easier to hawk the parts instead of a full droid. Most of the time a pirate can get more money for selling parts out then they could get for a hot droid. Most of the time a fully working droid could lead back to real trouble. Break it down, take it apart. Sell it.” 

“That’s horrible.” Finn said sadly, eyes narrowed. 

“Yeah. Yeah it is.” Poe ran his hand through his hair, glancing to BB-8 and suddenly smiling at him. It was clear he adored his partner and friend. “Anyhow. I insisted on helping this wounded little droid to the kitchen area. It took me a bit but I got him up on a counter and hauled parts back there to work on it. There was no way I was going to make him sit in that torture room.” 

“By time we came out of Hyperspace and back to base, I had managed to get Beebee rolling again. Got the leak stopped, the cables retracted in, and a patchwork metal piece pushed in place for the missing round plate. Got him working well enough that he could roll off that death trap on his own.” 

\---

_“You need medical help, Dameron?” A crew member said as Poe started to walk out the back ramp of the ship, his hand resting at his side._

_“I’ll be fine. I can find my own way to medical.” Poe assured, coming to the bottom of the ramp and pausing, looking back. The small ball droid stayed on the ship, just behind the crate that had been on fire before. It leaned a bit to peek past it, like it was scared to come out._

_“Well, come on. This way.” Poe said to the droid, patting his hip as if calling to a large pet or something._

_“Sir?” The crew member asked, confused as he thought he was being spoken too._

_Poe shook his head, then looked up the ramp again. “Come on. I told you, we’ll take care of you here.”_

_The ball droid moved, looking down as if it as trying to watch where it was rolling. When it got to the odd panel that Poe had to put in, it wasn't rounded well, and he made a clunk and strange wobble pop as he moved over it. A mournful tone, a bit embarrassed as he did. With a few awkward rolls the droid came to a sudden stop at the base of the ramp, the tone it made sounding startled at how fast those last few feet went and how unstable it felt._

_Poe chuckled and grinned down at it. “It’s all right. We’ll get that fixed. Everyone will understand.”_

_The droid made the saddest sound at Poe, who shook his head and started walking. The droid rolled, thunked, and left little spots of oil on the ground as he went._

_“Sir, ah, that’s ah…” The crew member called out behind them, about to tell him that it's not his droid or regulation, but the droid moved to hide behind Poe’s legs, and Poe stopped and gave the man the darkest look, challenging him. “Ah, never mind, sir.” The crewman called back before moving on board to take care of the mess._

_Poe got the droid back to the X-wing section of the hanger and told him to stay put. His own poor X-wing had been shuttled down and left sitting in it’s space. Burned and fried, it had a lot of work that needed to be done to it._

_He spoke with his Captain, talking over the events of what happened on the ship. They spoke for some time, and the Captain requested a real report to be filed. He informed the younger pilot that his ship would be taken in and worked on, and until them he as grounded. Not as punishment, but until his ship was in working order and once he got a New Astromech to pilot with._

_“I’d like to request some work be done on this BB unit, sir.” Poe requested, stepping back a bit and letting him see the small round droid, who was currently trying to hide behind a box near by._

_The Captains R2 unit rolled over near the droid, chirping a string of of questions and greetings at the droid, but the BB unit rolled further back, trying to hide._

_“Are you sure you don’t want… a new one, Dameron?” The Captain said, a bit unsure._

_“Sir, this one saved my life. I’d like to see if I can get it up to specs first. It would be cheaper to get it upgraded then to get a new one anyhow.”_

_“Somehow, I don’t see that as being true. You’ve got a lot of work to do on this one.”_

_Poe shrugged and repeated. “He saved my life. I’d like to try.”_

_The Captain wouldn’t say no to that at least. He nodded and mentioned that he might be able to use the tools from the mechanics, or at least ask to do so. If anything he could take it to the droid work stations and see about getting someone to fix it for him._

_Poe grinned and thanked the Captain, before returning to the little droid. Getting a small flat dolly, he helped the BB unit onto the rack and rolled him off to start to work on it._

_It took six days for him to get everything back into working order. One of his crew mates was very good with droids, and had helped him find a manual on how to fix this kind. The two of them found parts, and when Poe couldn’t figure something out for himself, he asked for help. Determined to make sure this little droid as properly cared for._

_He made sure to not turn off the programming, as best as he could. “If it hurts, you say something.” He told the BB unit several times while working on him, and BB always asked him to stop if it felt like it was stressing his programming._

_Once the body was in working order he worked on some of the internals. The cables were replaced, the arms were fixed. Each of the little plated round doors and drawers were fixed, upgraded, changed and made to work in better working order._

_The little silver and rust looking ball was slowly starting to take proper shape of a working Astromech droid._

_Twisting the black lens into place he put the last of the secure cover over it and smiled, beaming down into the eye. “Okay, you can look now. We got the new lens in!”_

_He watched as BB-8, the official units name now, opened his focus lens, head tilting and looking around now. After a moment there was a sudden blurt and squeal, and the small droid rolled around in a small circle, chirping happy._

_“I take it that’s better?” An affirmative tone as blurted back at him. Poe laughed, grinning, so proud of the little ball. He flopped back on the ground and watched the droid move. “You seem happier now.”_

_BB-8 rolled to him and make all the purring sounds that a droid could make at him, making Poe laugh again, leaning forward to pet the droid on the head. “I’m glad. I think, after a few modifications, all that is needed is a good paint job and then testing. We can take you down to the main office and see if you can pass as a fully functioning Astromech droid. Think you’d like that?”_

_Suddenly BB-8 moaned softly, head bowed and looking sad. Poe looked surprised, wondering if it as something he said. “What’s wrong?”_

_The droid spoke slowly, telling the pilot that he was worried that he can not be a good co pilot for him. That he wants Poe to be safe. That he needed the best Astromech that they can find to fly with him, so he always comes back safe._

_Poe snorted, moving to sit indian style before his little droid friend. “Are you kidding me? You’re already more droid then most of the others. You’re going to do amazing. You already know everything about the X-wings anyhow. Don’t worry so much, my friend. I couldn’t think of another droid who will keep me safe up there. With you in the pit I’ll be sure to come home safe, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure you too come back safe. We’re partners now, you and me.”_

_The next morning Poe hooked the droid up to a computer, pulling up a site and rolling through a list of colors. “Here, Beebee… I want you to pick the color you want. We’re going to get you all buffed up and repainted. Any color you want.”_

_The droid seemed curious, and asked what color his old droid was. “Mmm nope. Not saying. You get to pick what YOU want. Not what you think I want.” He then asked what color the X-wing was, or what color the squadron color was. Poe shook his head each time._

_“Beebee. Stop worrying over all that. You don’t have to match anything official. I know you can pick a color. There has to be one you want just for you.”_

_Tentatively, there was a list of colors scrolling across the screen, BB-8 looking through them. Then colors were being removed. Then suddenly it all stopped. On a very nice orange color. Beebee tweeted and rocked a bit, looking up at Poe, twittering and chirping at him._

_Poe squinted a moment, looking at the color that was picked, then down at his own orange jump suit. He shot Beebee a glance. “Why’d you pick that color?”_

_Beebee bowed its head as it said._

_“Because it matched my flight suit? Bee… you don’t have to--” but the droid cut him off with a string of chirps, and rocking back and forth a bit. He really wanted to wear the same color as Poe did. Poe paused there, looking at the droid, then chuckled, nodding. “All right. If it's what you really want. We’ll get it.” he crouched down to trace over the larger parts of the droids body. “So… for this part?”_

_BB-8 made a blat sound, saying no. He rolled a bit and looked at the screen. A white color popped up. “Ah, so white for the majority, and orange for this?’ He tapped the circles, grinning. A yes given to him._

_“Well, looks like we’ve got a good plan here. I’ll put the order in. While we wait, you got a oil bath and buffing.” He winked at his friend, grinning._

_It was another day later before his order came in, and he was allowed to use the tools in the droid repair shop to fix the little guy up. It was offered to have a program do it for him. To have a droid do the paint job faster and easier, but Poe insisted that he could do it, and did it on his own._

_Carefully he took parts off Beebee, and prepared the little droid properly. Once in awhile he would tell BB-8 not to look, because it would be a surprise. When BeeBee had concerns about the paint getting ruined, Poe had to explain that the paint was really strong, and it would be fine, but that they could always have it redone as needed._

_When done, Poe moved back and pulled up a reflection glass in the room. No one really cared how a droid looked, in general, but the glass was there for assistance in seeing behind the things while working. Now it was used in vanity as he let his droid look at last._

_Grinning down at the little droid, he gave a thumbs up and a questioning look. “Looks great to me. What about you?”_

_BB-8 rolled a bit, in front of the glass and then made a loud sound, rocking back and forth. Poe laughed, grinning. “I’m glad!” he gave the thumbs up again, cheerful._

_BB-8 paused, then… with a cheerful tone tried to thumbs up as well, but all his doors opened at once, and arms, tools and cables shot out in surprise!_

_“Whoa, whoa…” Poe said, looking concerned. “You all right?” He crouched down and started to help sort the poor droid out, uncrossing cables and arms so he could retract it all. “Were you trying to give me a thumbs up in return?”_

_The droid gave a sad mournful tone, head bowed in embarrassment._

_Poe, having a moment, grinned and “You’re so cute!” he laughed, and plopped his hands down on either side of the ball body, leaning forward to kiss the top of the droids domed head. He heard a small ‘awww’ like sounds before the droid purred. The purr was odd but adorable too._

_“We can work on that. It’s just one arm out. Not all of them.” he said, then looked over the droid a bit, before reaching back to tap one plate. “Bring this one up.” He said, and BB-8 rolled around a bit until that door was accessible. He opened it and stuck the torch arm out._

_“Good. Now… light it up.”_

_BB-8 head tilted, optic lens looking down at the torch before turning it on. The small blue flame kicked up, pointing up like a thumb._

_Poe grinned and stuck his thumb out too, showing the droid how they matched. He laughed, and BB-8 chirped happy at this, rolling back and forth in excitement._

_“Okay, Beebee. Are you happy with it?” He watched the droid pull the arm in, then suddenly spring it back out, thumbs up again. Grinning, Poe rubbed the top of his domed head and laughed. “You’re amazing, do you know that?”_

_The droid gave a soft bashful tone, but seemed happy._

\---

“It took Beebee a little while after all this to be comfortable around others.” Poe said as the three of them came into his quarters. 

BB-8 rolled past the two of them and moved over to his power station, rolling up on a small rounded resting seat and settling in, popping a door open and pushing a charge port into the station. The droid hummed softly, a happy tune, as he settled in for the evening. This was dinner. This was rest. 

Poe moved over to his bed, starting to haul off his boots and settling in slowly. 

Finn came in and pulled the rolling chair from the desk, turning it around and sitting in it backwards, arms resting on the back of the chair. “It’s hard to imagine Beebee being… shy. To anyone. He’s kind of outspoken for a droid.” 

Poe chuckled at that. “Yeah, he is. But it wasn’t always like that. Beebee actually seemed like he didn’t know how to interact with the others. Shy. As odd as that sounds. All droids have their own personalities. I’m not even sure how that happens, but in Astromechs especially, they tend to manifest a personality of their own. Generally it’s something like feisty or chipper or grumpy or something. I’ve worked with a few that seemed down right scared to fly and be in combat, while others are heroic and strong.” 

“Beebee on the other hand has a child like quality to him. A bit of a pest at times too.” There came a loud protesting sound from the droid, making Poe laugh a good hearty laugh. “You are too!” He grinned, leaning back in his bed and crossing his legs under him, smirking at his two friends. 

“Anyhow, I took him in to be tested, check the programming and all. BB-8 was perfect. He was all cleared to be a fully functional Astromech for me and my X-wing, so I had him registered as my co-pilot in the New Republic, which granted Beebee access to the hanger on his own, and allowed me to have him loaded to my ship. It also meant he could come with me anywhere I needed him.”

“Except I had one problem.” 

Finn raised a brow, looking at the storyteller in surprised. “And here I thought that was the end of the story.” 

“It could be, but Beebee here? Wasn’t too fond of being around others. No matter how hard I tried to explain that the other pilots here were just as nice as me, Beebee stayed pretty damn shy.” 

\---

_”She says it’s cute, but she didn’t think the BB line was reliable.” A man said as he and a Sullustan female came over to Poe and his droid._

_The two of them were in the hanger, Poe working on the modifications needed to situate a BB series droid into his X-wing. It doesn’t take much, just a few changes to the set up is all. He ducked from under the hull of the X-wing to look at the pair, grinning wide._

_“And I say it’s cute and works better than any droid I’ve had.” Poe winked at Tans, the Sullustan who rambled off the comment in her chirpy sounding language. He reached out and offered a full arm shake with both the pilots, seeming to be beaming to see them. “Good to see you again Tans, Jekt. I thought you guys were out on long patrol.”_

_Poe felt the droid move more then seen it, but suddenly the little orange and white ball was now hiding behind his legs, head turned and peeking out at the pilots._

_Jekt was a handsome looking Thyferra native who found himself in the New Republic to get himself out of some political trouble. A bit of a snob at times, but he had a good heart and was a quick hand at blasters. He came closer and crouched down, peeking past the other pilots legs to the shy droid. “We got back a bit sooner than planned.” He explained at first, head tilting in time with BB-8 as he too tilted, just enough to peek past Poe’s leg._

_The droid made a squeak sound and rolled back to hide again._

_Poe sighed, glancing down. “He’s a bit new still.”_

_Tans spoke up, chittering swiftly, moving to kneel then sit on her shins on the floor, her large mousy ears perked up, her large black eyes bright and watchful. She held a hand out to the droid, waving for it to come out to talk to her._

_“It’s not a pet, Tansy…” Jekt said with a snort as he stood. “It doesn’t understand pet calls.”_

_Tans made an indignant comment to Jekt, which made the other pilot frown and crossed his arms. She then waved for the droid to come, to follow. She moved to stand again and looked at Poe, to ask if it was all right. Poe just shrugged and moved a bit to expose BB-8 more._

_“Go on. She doesn’t bite.” A pause, then he grinned at Tans. “Do you?”_

_The Sullustan stuck her tongue out past her duel jowls and made a rasping noise at him before giggling. She started back, towards her X-wing, and waved for BB-8 to follow._

_BB-8 seemed to not want to follow at first, but Poe gave a small nudge to him, getting the ball rolling. With a mournful almost scared tone, BB-8 rolled after, giving Jekt a wide berth as he went._

_Jekt snorted, coming to stand next to Poe and mumbled. “You might want to have it wiped if it’s going to manifest a scared attitude. That’ll be such a pain in the ass in combat, Dameron.”_

_“Beebee isn’t scared for fighting. He’s scared of your mean mug.” Poe said with a laugh, shouldering the other with a nudge. “Don’t blame him either. Coming in here talking about him like he’s an animal and needing mind wipes.”_

_“If my droid acted as skittish as yours, I’d have it fixed. It’s a danger to fly with a droid who doesn’t trust you.”_

_“He doesn’t need fixing like that. As I said, Beebee isn’t scared to fight. I’m alive because that little guy has some fight to him.” Poe said much more firmly now. Serious._

_On the other side of the Hanger, Tans brought the small droid to her own ship and to a purple colored R2-L4 unit, the dome was a classic round shape, but the body as built with flatter panels then your normal older models._

__[This is Artoo Ellfour, but I call her Ellor. She’s my co-pilot and best friend.] _Tans explained in her own language. Ellor rolled forward and chirped softly at Beebee, a greeting._ [She’s been flying X-wings for years. I thought maybe you two would like to meet.]

_Tans seemed very happy to see the two droids carry on a conversation. At first BB-8 seemed very shy and didn’t say much, but as R2-L4 talked and even rolled forward to bump the other droid, BB-8 started to talk more as well._

_After that, any time Poe and Beebee came into the hanger, the little ball droid would run off to Tans’ side of the hanger and search for Ellor, chittering happily and filling Ellor in on his day. Poe honestly thought it was great. Ellor even introduced him to other droids, but Beebee seemed to like Ellor the best._

_“What? Not going to talk to your girlfriend?” Poe teased one day while working on his X-wing. They had mechanics for this kind of thing, but he was much more comfortable knowing things were getting done then trusting someone else to do it._

_BB-8 let out a loud blit sound, giving Poe a negative sound. A door opened up and his multi tool came out, the screwdriver in the center popped up suddenly. Poe couldn’t help the sudden blurted laugh as he looked at his droid. “Did you just flip me off?” He laughed again, reaching out to shove the droid playfully. “Who taught you that!”_

_BB-8 chirped and claimed not knowing who did it, but it wasn’t the droid in the mess hall who handed out food every day. Nope._

_Proud of his little friend, he sat with him and reached an arm out to loop around him in a small hug. “I’m glad to see you’re making friends. And I hear a few of the pilots talking about you as well. Are you feeling better about this place?”_

_The droid chirped, and rolled in a circle a moment, before nodding it’s domed head. Beebee was very comfortable here, and had found his place in the hanger with everyone else. It couldn’t make Poe happier._

\---

“Aww, so Beebee has a girlfriend somewhere?” Finn asked with a grin, leaning over the back of the chair and seemed so very into this story. His head was rested on his arm on the chair back, but he turned to smile at BB-8 at that. “That’s kind of cute.” 

BB-8 however lowered his head, black optic lens to the ground and moaned a sad tone. 

Finn, frowning at that sat up more, no longer happy looking. “What’d I say?” 

Poe gave a sad smile to Finn, shaking his head. “It’s okay. Beebee’s just sad. Ellor took a hit in a dogfight, the X-wing and droid fried. We nearly lost Tans as well. Tans lost her leg and wasn’t able to fly anymore, but she stuck around, last I heard, she's still working as a mechanic for the New Republic. Ellor, however…” 

\---

_Poe and BB-8 left medical a bit somberly. Poe walked, hands in his pockets, going over the list in his head of people they lost. Half the squadron, including his wing mate and their Captain, who Poe had been pretty close to. He thought of how how lucky Tans was to still have her life. Lucky, maybe. He wondered if he would consider it lucky or not, being unable to fly again. Or at least fly properly. She could fly, but with one missing leg, even if they go with a prosthetic, it wouldn't be the same. She couldn't take on snub fighters like before._

_BB-8 rolled faster than normal, wanting to check on Ellor, who was still in the hanger being worked on. The droid had been fried with the ship, but Beebee held out hope._

_The day they came into the hangar and saw the little purple Astromech milling around, Poe thought BB-8 would explode in joy. He rolled to her fast and chirped. Chitted and talked, rambling off a string of tweets and blurts, explaining that he had missed her and was she all right? Did she feel better? Was her programming fixed?_

_R2-L4 didn’t know who BB-8 was and seem taken back by the sudden conversation. The droid paused, looked at the BB model droid, and then excused herself, rolling around BB-8 without another word._

_Jekt walked up beside the sorrowful BB-8 and bent down beside him. He was never one to be friendly or chat much with droids outside of his own, but he had seen it, and rested his hand on the top of the droids head._

_“It’s new programming, Beebee. They couldn’t save Ellor.” Jekt, the handsome yet not all that kind pilot, was trying at least. He leaned down a bit to look the droid in the face. “She’s gone, little guy. I’m sorry. We all are.”_

_With a twist of his head, he pushed away from the hand, slowly rolling away at first, head down, only to roll faster now. He rolled away to the other end of the hanger, rolled right under Poe’s X-wing and sat there a moment, then shut down, lights going off and powering down into low power mode._

_When Poe found him he had already heard from others. Jekt told him what happened, and a few other pilots had even came to tell Poe they felt bad about what happened. A few of them not even understanding why they felt so bad for a pair of droids, but they did._

_After two days of letting Beebee sit in lower power mode, Poe finally had enough of it. He came up and crouched before the droid, reaching out to knock on it’s hull. “Okay Bee. That’s enough. Let’s go back to my room all right?”_

_The lights didn’t come on, except that small flashing red light that said it was in low power._

_“Hey!” Poe said firmly, knocking again. “Power up, buddy. I got something for you back in the dorms. I’m done with you being like this. It’s not good, for you or for me. Okay?”_

_The head rolled up on BB-8, but he stayed in low power mode._

_Poe frowned, leaning in to knock the top of his head into the droids, leaning there. Forehead to forehead so to speak. “Bee… please. I need you, buddy. I know you’re upset. I’m upset too. We lost a lot of good people. Lost my wing mate too. I… I need my friend with me, okay? You need me too. Come on…”_

_Reluctantly, Beebee powered up again, moaning softly, and letting his head fall once more. He started to roll, without Poe, to leave the hangar bay. Poe got up and followed, catching up to walk beside him. “I’ve got a surprise from the gang.” he said, holding up a long disk drive. “They said we should watch it when we’re alone. We, not me. This is for you too.”_

_When they got to Poe’s quarters, he moved over to put the flash stick into his computer, moving to take a seat in his bunk, and pulling BB-8 over to sit in front of him, his legs on either side, he leaned over the droid, resting his hands on it’s head lightly and watching._

_On the screen was Tans in her hospital bed, waving to the image, smiling. She spoke swiftly in her language, something Poe hadn’t finished learning yet, so he was glad to see that it was translated at the bottom._

__“[Hello my friends. I am devastated with what happened and know that no amount of words will make anything better for any of us. We lost so many. I lost a leg in the fight and might never be able to fly with some of you again.]” _She looked saddened by this, pushing herself to sit up more in the bed now._

_She spoke to her fellow pilots, friendly yet sad. Letting them know how much they all meant to her and how glad she was to be included in their Squadron. When she was done she sighed looking tired._

__“[I’m not hopeful to getting into a snub fighter again, but I will get better and work with you all again, even if just to keep your X-wings running perfectly. Thank you for all the warm wishes and for coming to see me. For not forgetting me now that I am not one of you.]”

_Whoever was filming stopped at that point, a hand coming past the side of the screen and pointing at her. “Excuse you! You are still part of us, dust for brains. We talked about this!”_

_Tans chuckled sadly, holding her hands up in surrender._ “[You are right. I will not feel sorry for myself. Thank you for the reminder.]”

_She waved the video closer, and leaned in, smiling more now._ “[The rest of this is for someone special.]” _And with a wink of a large black eye, the screen cut off then came back in. Poe figured that everyone who got this got just that much of it, and this one was… more. The rest of this for someone other than the pilots._

_For a moment the screen came back and Tans put her hands on either side of the video screen. She leaned in and bumped her head to the screen before drawing back._ “[Beebee-ate. I am so sorry. Others have told me it’s silly to be worried about a droids well being, but I heard you powered down after hearing about Ellor. We both lost a very good friend and I know that has to be hard for you.]” __

__“[Ellor was such a good droid and a very good friend. I know she adored you, and you adored her. It might be silly, but I had some video footage on my computer you might like. I’ve included it on this stick. It’s not much, but I thought...]” _She rubbed at her eyes now with the back of her hand, drawing back a bit, sad._

_For a moment she just sat there, staring down a bit, then she pushed on a smile, waving off the comment from the person filming._ “[I thought it might help. Ellor was my first friend with the New Republic. I know she was your first droid friend too. So… don’t be sad, Beebee-ate. She was brave and so are you.]” __

_With that she paused, then nodded to the camera, which shut off a moment after._

_Poe sat there behind BB-8, frowning. His arm coming up to rub over his face, clearing his eyes, before looking down to find BB-8 looking up at him. He gave the small droid a smile and moved, pushing to get up over him and going to the computer. Ejecting the drive he came back, crouching in front of him and tapping a door._

_“Open up. Here… she said it was for you.”_

_The droid gave a small soft whistle, unsure sounding, but then looked down, opening a drawer that had a fitting attachment. Poe put it inside and plugged it in, letting the droid close it up again. “Okay, buddy. You have it now. All yours. You should rest here tonight too, all right? No more being in the hangar bay alone.”_

_Nodding his head BB-8 rolled over to his part of the room and settled in._

_Poe watched for a bit, seeing BB-8’s eye flicker and smiled as he realized he was going through the footage on his own. To himself._

\---

Finn was now sitting on the floor next to BB-8, leaning into him a bit, the droid seemed tilted into Finn as well, like they were holding each other up. Poe was laying across his bed, head at the foot of it and his head pillowed in his arms while he told the rest of the story. 

“Beebee was good after that. He went back to his normal self. More active, more friendly. He welcomed new Astromechs and pilots whenever we got them. And he became friends with Arell, which is what the next pilot called Ellor. Tans decided to let someone else keep her as a co-pilot. I think she couldn’t handle the loss again, if something happened.” 

“That’s so sad though…” Finn said softly, frowning up at the man in the bed.

“I can kind of understand it though. I think if I couldn’t fly anymore, I’d want someone to be able to take Beebee out still. To let him keep flyin--” There came a strong protest and BB-8 pushed off Finn and rolled over his charge station to bump into Poe’s bed. A series of very annoyed beeps happened, making Poe moved, drawing back to sit up. 

He looked surprised at first, a bit shocked, really, and then it faded into a soft smile. If you were to ask Finn, the look in his eyes were tender, purely adoring. A look even he wished Poe would look at him with. 

“Okay, buddy. I just meant I’d want you to still be able to fly. Like, have Rey or Snap or Jess take you out or something. I don’t think, even if you did get wiped, that I could give up on you.” He reached out and pet the domed head, over the sensor, and smiled softer still, lowering his head to his arm again and laid there at the edge of his bed, resting his hand on BB-8’s. 

“You two are gross, sick and adorable.” Finn said, grinning as he leaned against the wall now, watching them. “Just so you know.” He said with a huge dorkish grin. 

“You’re pretty adorable too.” Poe shot back with his own grin. “You should have seen your face through that story.” BB-8 whistled and blurted, making Poe laugh. “Bee says you’re pretty cute, yeah.” 

Finn snorted at that, reaching his arms over his head to work out a kink as he spoke. “So, you two have been together for a while. I know how you ended up in the resistance, but how well did Beebee do coming over?” 

BB-8 shot a string of words out at Finn for that, then rocked back and forth playfully. 

Poe smiled and stretched on his bed as well, covering a yawn as he did. “He did better than I did. He even gets along with the General’s Protocol Droid, Threepio. I actually think Beebee gets along better with that old golden droid then most anyone, other than Artoo that is.” Poe smiled faintly at all this. “I came in with a couple of friends who came over with me. I’ve… gotten on well, I suppose, with others. But…” he shrugged. 

“But you don’t make friends well.” Finn said easily. 

Poe raised a brow at that, looking over at him. “I have friends.” 

“That’s not what I mean, Dameron.” Finn said at that and moved to roll up onto his knee and foot. Reaching over to mess up the pilots already messy hair. “I’ve noticed. Poe Dameron, friend to everyone ever, and yet you don’t have people you seem to hold to like you do with Beebee.” 

Poe started to protest, but BB-8 said something in agreement. 

“I don’t need that translated. He agrees.” Finn moved in closer, ducking in to press a kiss to Poe’s lips, grinning a bit as he pulled back. “Which is why I’m glad you have Beebee, and me. And Rey.” He bumped his forehead to the pilots and smiled. “Thanks for the story. It’s kind of nice hearing where you two come from.” 

Poe flushed a bit but smiled, nudging his forehead into Finn's a bit as well, a bit like he does with Beebee. “Yeah, all right. Maybe you do know me better than I thought.” He smirked, sitting up on an arm and yawning again, his other hand hiding it. “Sorry.” 

“Don’t be. It’s late.” He smiled down at his pilot, friend, lover, whatever they were at the moment, and ruffled his hair again. “See you in the morning for breakfast. Maybe tomorrow you can start teaching me to understand Beebee like you guys do.” 

Poe yawned again and waved the hair ruffling off, grinning. “Have a good night, handsome. We’ll start training in the morning. Beebee can tell you all about the hot little number he’s seeing right now.” 

BB-8 rolled back, almost as if he flailed at the comment, and a loud stream of protests came to Poe swiftly. 

Finn laughed and moved to the door. “I don’t need a translation for all that either. I’m going to leave you two to fight this one out.” He chuckled, pulling his leather coat on again and when half out the door, he paused and ducked in again. “Hey, Bee…” 

BB-8 paused, turned his head to look at Finn, a small questioning tone given, hmm? 

“I’m glad you saved this nerf herder.” He gave the droid a little salute and smile. “See you tomorrow.” And then with a sly grin, said to the droid. “And bring your pilot with you.” He winked and headed out. 

With a soft Chuckle, Poe dropped his head into the foot of his bed again, letting out a tired sigh. “I’m glad you saved me too, buddy. In more ways then I had thought too. I never realized you were the one that opened the door.” 

Beebee chirped softly, explaining that he had seen the fight going on, and had heard from the ship computer that one ship went down, but the pilot was outside. He explained that he asked the ship to open the door and please let the pilot in. When the ship refused, he made it open anyhow. 

“I’m not sure what I would do without you.” With a soft sigh, Poe stayed where he was on the bed, his hand resting tenderly on his best friends head. A serene smile given to the droid, almost boyish in nature. He honestly couldn’t ask for a better friend. 

BB-8 carefully moved to reach an arm out to grab hold on the edge of blanket, pulling up carefully over his pilot. His best friend. Protective as ever, BB-8 was determined to keep his human alive, as well as happy. 

Much like Poe does for BB-8.


End file.
